The Interest of Love: Episodes 11-12 » Dramabeans MGG

The Interest of Love: Episodes 11-12

by Dramaddictally

Hang onto your seats and get ready to yip, yell, and flail because these two episodes take us for a serious ride. All four of our leads are losing hold of their senses while trying to grip tight to their hearts. For some, this brings a kind of freedom, while for others it looks like a descent into madness. The slow pace we were used to in the first half of this drama is gone, leaving us with enough flying emotions to cause whiplash.

 
EPISODES 11-12 WEECAP

We dive in headfirst where we left off last week: with a replay of that kiss (as if we could forget it). Afterward, Soo-young rushes out of the rink and Sang-soo chases after her — so Yoo Yeon-seok can continue to tear my heart apart with his phenomenal acting. He tells her it wasn’t a mistake and he doesn’t regret it, then formally confesses that he likes her. Both are welling with tears as he says he knows it’s too late but he can’t do it anymore, and he’s ready to take the blame.

Sang-soo starts to drive Soo-young home but she asks to go for a drink first. At the bar, she suggests they play The Lying Game, where everything they say has to be a lie. The game begins very sweetly as they express what’s really important to them (Sang-soo says he went fishing with his dad last week and Soo-young says her brother is studying abroad). Soo-young also talks about how rich she is, how she just works at the bank for fun, and how she’s spoiled because she never had any chores (umm, is she trying to throw shade at Mi-kyung?).

But then, Soo-young does one of the most hurtful things I can imagine. She says how much she likes Sang-soo, that she liked him from the beginning, and sometimes thinks of quitting her job to be with him. Every word is ripping his heart out. Then she says, “Lying Game over.” (How could anybody be so mean?!)

They get in the back of a taxi, silent, their hands resting between them and, without looking, Sang-soo moves his hand over hers and clasps it tightly. He looks out the window, crying. Soo-young remains blank faced (as she often does). As it’s happening, Mi-kyung has gone to Sang-soo’s empty apartment and let herself in. She keeps calling Sang-soo, and being ignored, until he finally turns off his phone.

Soo-young arrives home and Jong-hyun has dinner waiting. He doesn’t question her much about where she’s been, but lets her know that his father had surgery thanks to the money she gave him. He starts talking again about paying her back as soon as possible, but then says he needs more time before he moves out of the apartment. She tells him to take his time with both.

The tone and context of these introductory events set us up for what’s to come: Sang-soo throwing caution to the wind to be with Soo-young, and Mi-kyung and Jong-hyun clawing for their lives to stay in their relationships. Soo-young is the only one who still hasn’t made up her mind, but the drama gives us two situations to toss our characters around and force them to think hard about their values.

The first situation is a change of scenery. When the Yongpo branch takes over another branch, they need volunteers to go work at the new location for three months. Soo-young says she’ll go. Then the team meeting gets quiet as they wait for a second volunteer. Sang-soo starts to raise his hand but Kyung-pil cuts him off and says he’ll do it. Kyung-pil is trying to protect Mi-kyung, but she’s already seen Sang-soo lift his hand. She knows he was out with Soo-young the night before, also — and that that’s the reason he declined to go to her family dinner.

After the meeting, there’s a lovely scene where Sang-soo pulls Soo-young into the storage room and asks if she’s going to the other branch to avoid him. She counters that she was going to be picked anyway, so she volunteered. Then, another office couple comes into the storage room to have a tiff and Sang-soo and Soo-young cram into the corner together. Sang-soo can’t help but laugh at the couple, and Soo-young covers his mouth. It’s an amazing display of how these two can seem so comfortable and so tense together at the same time.

When Soo-young and Kyung-pil begin work at the other branch, we see it’s just the two of them, in a small office located on a university campus (the alma mater of Sang-soo, Kyung-pil, and Mi-kyung). On their first day, Sang-soo uses his lunch break to go find Soo-young on campus. They walk along happily in the short time they have, but it has the quality of the start of an affair when Sang-soo says that next time he comes they’ll eat lunch together. Kyung-pil witnesses them walking and also has the feeling that things are going too far.

The second situation that’s shaking everyone up this week is a rumor at the bank. Sang-soo and Kyung-pil have a third colleague on their team and the character has been used as a juxtaposition to Sang-soo throughout the show. Every time this guy does something, it makes Sang-soo think about his own life and then act accordingly. When this colleague dumped his girlfriend of four years (whom he loved), rationalizing why it made sense to marry a higher status woman (that he barely knew), it wasn’t long before Sang-soo started dating Mi-kyung.

But after the colleague got married, he immediately started cheating on his new wife with his ex. The wife found out and posted the story online — which is how the rumor at work started — and now, the guy is being suspended for two months for “ruining the bank’s reputation.” Also, he and his ex have been doxed, and he’s having an all-around bad time. Still, Sang-soo hears his friend say that he wants to end things with his wife because his ex (his love) is the one he can’t live without. Sang-soo is clearly affected by this.

All the criticism of the cheater lines up perfectly with where Sang-soo and Soo-young are headed, and Kyung-pil warns Sang-soo not to get into a situation like their friend. Soo-young will be the one hurt in the end. We learn that Kyung-pil doesn’t want any of them to get hurt, partially because he still has feelings for Mi-kyung. Last week, we were told that Kyung-pil and Mi-kyung broke up in college because he slept around with all her friends. But this didn’t sit right with what we know about him.

This week, Kyung-pil tells Soo-young the real story (as a kind of warning to her as well). It turns out that Mi-kyung’s wealthy family didn’t approve of Kyung-pil and forced them apart (but Mi-kyung never knew the real reason). Not only does this explain Kyung-pil’s motive for meddling in the current situation, it gives Soo-young a valid reason to think twice about stepping on Mi-kyung’s toes.

Mi-kyung goes further off the deep end this week. Sang-soo keeps asking her to meet so he can tell her something. She knows he wants to break up, so she keeps avoiding him. Sang-soo, being too polite, won’t break up with her at an inopportune time, so he just keeps delaying the break up.

Finally, she tells him to meet her for dinner. He thinks he’s going to talk to her alone, but when he arrives, Soo-young and Jong-hyun are there. It’s Mi-kyung’s birthday (Sang-soo didn’t know) and she’s invited them to celebrate. (Why would Soo-young say yes to this? She and Mi-kyung are not even pretending to be friends anymore.) The minute everyone sits down at the table, Mi-kyung starts in. She asks Soo-young how it is working on campus — “Isn’t our school pretty?” It’s an exclusionary tactic to make Soo-young feel like she doesn’t belong there, and Sang-soo looks irate.

Mi-kyung continues the uncomfortable talk and asks Sang-soo how it is not seeing Soo-young every day. “Don’t you feel empty?” The table is tense AF. Soo-young side glances at Jong-hyun (who knew nothing about her and Sang-soo), giving it away that they have something going on. Sang-soo stands up, angry, and asks to be excused. Then he tells Mi-kyung to come with him.

For some reason, Mi-kyung is the one driving when they leave and Sang-soo tells her to pull over so they can talk. “No, let’s talk later,” she says, already crying. He insists it needs to be right now and she screams, “But it’s my birthday!!” (Imagine a five-year-old shrieking and throwing a tantrum, where they shake their body and then fling themselves on the floor.) Since she won’t allow him to speak, he just goes ahead, “I have feelings for someone. And it’s not you.” That gets her to pull over — because it makes her puke. (Geum Sae-rok is killing it in this role. From top to bottom, she’s got this character figured out.)

On the side of the road, Sang-soo finally says, “I’m sorry. Let’s break up.” He’s crying too and it’s clear it’s not easy for him to hurt her. Mi-kyung says she knows he never loved her, so it’s not a change in his feelings that’s causing him to want to break up now — Soo-young is to blame. She then refuses to accept the breakup, and drives away and leaves him there.

Sang-soo allows her refusal to go on and on, trying to give Mi-kyung time to accept that it’s over. But when Mi-kyung’s mom calls him to go shopping with her — and then says she’s going to support their marriage — Sang-soo doesn’t let it stand. He bravely tells Mi-sun that he and Mi-kyung decided to break up — and man does that hurt the mom’s pride, lol.

Afterward, Mi-kyung wants to know what she did wrong and why he doesn’t love her. Both are really choked up, and he says it’s not her fault. Still, she declares she’s done being nice and that she’ll do whatever it takes to get the love she deserves from him (oh no).

Jong-hyun and Soo-young continue their odd companionship this week, even after Soo-young finds out he’s been lying to her about a girl in his study group. A few weeks ago, we saw this girl hit on Jong-hyun, but now it’s become a full-blown flirtation. Soo-young joins the group for drinks one evening, and the study buddy flirts openly with Jong-hyun, saying to Soo-young, “He told me he’s most grateful to you, but he has the most fun around me.” Soo-young simply smiles, but Jong-hyun finally looks like he feels guilty.

Ever since Mi-kyung’s birthday, Jong-hyun has been acting more needy. He asks Soo-young on a date and afterward produces a set of couple rings. Soo-young accepts the ring, but it’s too small for her finger, so she doesn’t wear it. (It’s a sign, girl. Run.)

Soo-young is so conflicted about her feelings that she takes off work the following day and heads to the beach. Sang-soo decides to cut work and go find her. Kyung-pil asks, “Have you thought about this?” And Sang-soo responds, “No. I’m done thinking. I decided that a while ago.” — and here we have our theme, as well as a major change in our hero.

Sang-soo finds Soo-young easily and sits with her on the beach. She’s built a sand castle, which is nestled between them. Their conversation takes a metaphorical turn and we learn Soo-young’s life philosophy. She grew up near the ocean and used to make sand castles a lot. She always worked hard on them, even though she knew they would disappear soon after. When she left the beach, she would worry all night that her sand castle got knocked down or washed away. And so, she started destroying them herself so she wouldn’t have to worry. (We’ve known this about her since the beginning — that she self-sabotages as protection — but I’m impressed that she knows herself so well.)

She moves her hand to knock down the sand castle between them but Sang-soo stops her. “You could be wrong. The sand castle could last a long time.” He lets her hand go and she leaves the castle alone. She recognizes he’s changed. (But she’s not ready to.) She asks him to go get her a drink, and he knows she’ll be gone when he gets back. He goes, leaving his jacket over her, and when he returns, she’s gone, and his jacket is on the ground. She did not destroy the sand castle, though.

Soo-young goes to see her father and asks why he cheated on her mother (I had a suspicion this wasn’t true, but it is). He tells her that when you start loving someone you can’t stop. And it’s almost like Soo-young is there asking for permission to do what she wants to do with Sang-soo. But then she asks why her father came back after her brother died. And he says it was out of regret. No one would make the decision he did if they knew how much they’d suffer later. And so, it’s like the permission she was just giving herself about loving Sang-soo is taken back. She says her dad is no help and leaves.

Soo-young finally turns her phone back on later that night and there are a bunch of messages from both Jong-hyun and Sang-soo. One from Sang-soo is a picture of her sand castle, still standing on the beach. She calls someone: “Can we meet right now?”

The next morning, Sang-soo comes to work and asks Soo-young why she left yesterday. She ignores him and walks right by. Then Jong-hyun storms into the bank, looking for Soo-young. When he finds her, he gets in her face, grabs ahold of her, and screams, “Is it true?!” And he looks like he’s about to hit her. She says, “You already know the answer.”

Sang-soo and Kyung-pil walk in and Jong-hyun rushes over and punches Kyung-pil to the ground. Sang-soo pulls Jong-hyun away and Jong-hyun says, “What, did you sleep with Soo-young too?!” Everyone in the bank is there to watch (and film) and Sang-soo looks at Soo-young with hurt and disbelief. But, as usual, Soo-young has a dead look on her face.

Aw man. Episode 11 was sooooo good and then we get this. How are we supposed to root for Soo-young if she can’t get herself together a little? Her and Jong-hyun’s pity party makes no sense to me. I don’t understand why she’s been accepting everything he offers — and then she’s suddenly so cruel in the last scene.

Jong-hyun’s character is unwieldy. I feel like the side of him that we see at the end is not well-motivated. Yes, it could be a response a person has to cheating, but I’m not sure it’s the response we’ve been led to believe this character would have. He was the one who tried to break up with Soo-young originally, he keeps trying to edge out, why he’s so possessive all of a sudden seems strange. (Also, he’s been lying about things and likes someone else too.)

I’m sad that the show is turning Jong-hyun and Mi-kyung into villains and taking away the little nuances that made it hard to hate them before. One of the things that allowed Mi-kyung to stay human was that, even though she has everything, she’d also been wronged in her life. Now, one of those wrongs is negated because Kyung-pil never cheated on her. Even if she felt it as real, the fact that we know the cause of the breakup was her own wealth makes it hard for me to empathize.

Sang-soo has my full backing at this point. His character growth is beautiful. Now it’s up to Soo-young to do her part. I don’t believe anything is going on between Kyung-pil and Soo-young, so I’m wondering if the two of them cooked up a scheme for Mi-kyung to think they’re dating (thereby saving Sang-soo’s reputation at the bank and also getting rid of Jong-hyun). It would be terribly mean, but it’s what I’ve come to expect from Soo-young.

 
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